1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a programming system, and particularly, to a graphical programming system that displays graphic components each corresponding to a program that carries out a task such as an operation task or a database task. A user directly controls the graphic components with, for example, a mouse, to make a program.
This programming system enables a user to freely combine the graphic components and easily create or edit application programs.
This programming system enables a plurality of computers to share, through a network, events caused by users or changes occurring in displayed images. Namely, the system allows the users of the computers to cooperate with one another through the network. This system is applicable to education and game fields.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional programming technique must have a plurality of libraries each containing a plurality of programs. Each of the programs carries out a task such as an operation task or a database task. A programmer employs an editor and a programming language to write a source file to call the libraries and determine an execution order of the libraries and a method of handling data. The source file is compiled into a relocatable object file having undefined addresses. The object file is linked by a linker to libraries required for arithmetic operations, database processes, and graphic processes, to form a computer-executable program written in a machine language having defined addresses. The executable program is loaded into a computer. Alternatively, instructions in the source program are successively interpreted for a computer by an interpreter.
A GUI (graphical user interface) is useful to create programs. This technique, however, requires a programmer to write programs. For example, a programmer draws a button on a display and writes an application program to be executed upon the operation of the button. To write programs, the programmer must use libraries. The libraries have different function interfaces. Namely, the libraries have different data-call formats, data types, and description formats, so that no one can prepare a program without the knowledge of the libraries.
Programming languages used for a conventional programming system are difficult to grasp in terms of links among data. Accordingly, the conventional programming system only allows programmers to write programs and keeps end users away from programming computers.
There is a programming method that employs icons each representing a function. A user connects the icons with lines, to make a program. The program thus made is, however, usually not reusable. Namely, there is a problem that the program cannot be utilized as an intellectual asset.
Programmers must classify data into numeric data and character data for a conventional programming system. This may cause errors when preparing a program that handles a complicated data structure because such a complicated data structure is very difficult to read.
When a plurality of computers are connected to cooperate together, the conventional system requires the computers to be adjusted whenever the operational configuration is changed.
In a program prepared by the conventional programming system, it is difficult to distinguish tasks in the program from one another. If a subsidiary task takes place in a main task, the subsidiary task must be written in a separate block in the program, or it must be clarified by indents. To graphically display the relationship between the subsidiary and main tasks, another program must be created, compiled, and interpreted.